Page 75 of Vengeful Guard

I chuckle, looking at her sparkling eyes. “Hell, no. Stole another car the instant I turned sixteen. Eventually, the old man bought me one just to keep me out of trouble.”

“Seems like that totally worked.” She rolls her eyes, and I snort.

“You’re right about that.”

“Trouble might as well be your middle name.”

I look at her feigning innocence. “How do you know it’s not?”

She laughs out loud. And as I laugh with her, I think about how much I’ve been laughing during this poker game.

Paige is really funny, when she’s not being a spoiled brat.

“I have an idea.” She grins at me, a weird glint in her gaze.

My smile fades. “I don’t like that look in your eyes.”

“Oh, come on.” She waves me off. “I was just thinking, why don’t we make this game a little more interesting?”

I narrow my eyes at her. She’s up to something. “What do you mean, more interesting?”

She gives me a slow grin, and I get a little scared.

But she remains silent.

“Well? What’s your idea, then?” I stare at Paige for a long moment. “You want to play for money?”

She shakes her head. “No, something else.”

I frown. “How can you make this more interesting without involving money?”

“I was thinking more along the lines of…” Her cheeks get that amazing shade of pink again. “Strip poker.”

I jerk. “Absolutely not.”

She pouts. “Why not? You afraid you’ll lose your shirt? You barely wear one anyway.”

I laugh despite myself. I shouldn’t be getting this close to her at all, not to mention considering playing strip poker, of all things.

“You might lose more than your shirt,” I point out, looking her up and down.

That pretty pink brings out her freckles again. “I’m going to win, so I don’t have to worry.”

I raise an eyebrow. “You know you don’t have much of a poker face, right? Just thought you should know.”

She crosses her arms over her chest. “Well, that means you don’t know me very well.”

“I think I know you pretty well, princess. I’ve known you since you were a child.”

“I was a lot different when I was younger than I am now.” She huffs out a breath, dropping her arms. “Now are you going to play with me, or not?”

“Not strip poker, no.”

She groans. “You’re boring, you know that?”

I snicker. “Can’t say that’s something I’ve ever been accused of, no.”

“Well, then prove that you’re not. Play with me, Kael.”

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